Moon River Falls - Georgian Bay

Another day that we were at Henry's Restaurant with the big boat, we took an all day dinghy adventure tour to the Moon River Falls. This is something we tried to get to a few years back (twice), but fate held us back and the trip never happened.

 So fast forward to 2011 and another attempt. I'm happy to report that not only were we successful, but I have a bunch-o-photos and video to share with you :-)

Believe it or not, but the round trip was 30 miles, so we had to make a pit stop at Woods Bay Marina on the way down for a fuel top up. As a matter of fact, I was a little concerned that our on board fuel tank wouldn't be able to get us there, so before leaving I 'borrowed' a small gas can at LeBlanc's (on the same island as Henry's) to fill and have as a spare for the trip. And when I say 'borrowed', I really meant 'rented' to the tune of $20. Plus fuel to fill it.
Note to self: bring small gas can from home to have for trips such as this. Believe it ;-)

A shot of the docks at Woods Bay. Almost all small, outboard powered boats here for the local cottagers. Biggest ship in port that day was a 340 Sundancer;

The store at the marina sold fuel, some groceries and the all important LCBO wares. Probably why it was so busy this day;

Not sure if this was a bad omen or not, but we spotted this turkey vulture on shore as we were making the final approach to the falls area;

Here we are. A popular spot for folks to dingy to;

Wow! Sure was a pretty sight;

This shot looks like a Group of Seven painting. I mentioned to Anchor Girl that this setting looked almost like someone built this to look as pretty as possible. I think 'someone' did and it was put there for us to enjoy.
 Thank you.

Nice shorts buddy;

Pretty, eh?

Preparing to get some really cool underwater videos to share with you;

Like a little kid playing in the water;

Here's the dinghy where we parked it on the rocks. As you can see, we had to pull it up on the rock shelf to leave it while walking around. When it came time to leave, we had to work out our quick exit, as there was lots of big rocks just under the surface behind the boat. So the plan was for A.G. to push the dingy back while I dropped the motor and started it.
 All good until she shoved us off and jumped into the boat - WITHOUT SITTING DOWN! Of course, I was looking back to get the outboard in the water and start it. When I pulled the cord, she was still leaning into the boat and - you guessed it - got the full force of the back of my hand right in her face!!
 S  M  A  C  K  !!!!!! Right in the kisser :-)
 I guess that vulture we saw earlier was a bad omen (for her at least). . .

Here's some wonderful and masterfully edited video of the Falls;



Heading back to the big boat, we spotted a young bear swimming across one of the channels. You can see it here in front of a Sea Ray. I was in radio communication with the folks on the boat to make sure he saw it and didn't hit it or startle it any more than it probably already was;

Here's one last photo we got of it before a couple of jerks raced up to within a 100' of it, full speed ahead in a centre console fishing boat to grab some photos. Fortunately the fuzzy little guy was able to get to shore and quickly disappear into the brush before those goofs got right up to it;

Back at the Boogaboo boat for a lovely evening on The Bay;

Back to Boating - And a New Outboard Motor!

After the long winter break, it sure was great to be back for another season!! As much as it was a sad time on the final weekend of '09, it was even more exiting and full of anticipation to be returning on Fridays again. Too bad I was too tired on this first Friday to join in at the fire. . . Just tired - not mad at anybody ;-)

After getting most of the stuff back on the boat and stowed away, Anchor Girl got the inside of Boogaboo all spiffed up and I got the heavy grime off the outside. Now all I gotta do is get both engines to go into forward gear. D'oh!

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Well, at least the new dinky motor is running well and performing as expected. Just couldn't wait get it on (the motor, that is) and try it out. Unlike it's owner, this thing is very quiet and smooth running;

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The crowd gathers down by the river to see all the exciting action;

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Graham & I checking our portable radios. Funny thing was that if I got into trouble, how was the radio gonna be of any help :-)

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Saturday night's fire. Alas, nobody wanted to stay up with me at the fire much past 10:00. Seems all the excitement of the first weekend might have been a bit much for everyone. Or something like that;

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The very first official sunset of the 'On Water' season. I'm certainly looking forward to many, many more of these. It's gonna be a great year. C'mon FRIDAY!!

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Down The Chimney (Bay) - Anchoring on Georgian Bay

Had another busy weekend (and week) working late, so I'm gonna have to break this segment into two parts for you. Yes, it's finally here - the next installment of the big Georgian Bay voyage. Please take your seats as I take you back in time - all the way back to July of 2009 as we revisit our memorable anchorage at Chimney Bay on lovely Georgian Bay. Could it be coincidence that we are going down the Chimney at the same time that that big guy in the red suit is heading down the chimneys of the houses of the little boys and girls of boating land? Hmmmm. . . . And you thought all of this has just been random, nonsensical ramblings on my part ;-) So, when we last visited the Georgian Bay adventure, us Boogaboo crew were enjoying the latter part of our 'honeymoon' portion of the summer holidays at Honey Harbour (top photo). Here we are just heading out from Nautilus Marina to continue northward and eventually meet up with our friends; First, a quick stop for a pump out - one of many on this trip, planed & otherwise. Look closely and you'll see 'It's All Good' on the dock. As chance had it we met Dan & Patty there. They had been anchored out at Bone Island but had to come back to Honey Harbour for a new battery; Our next anticipated stopover was an anchorage called Good Harbour. To get there, we had to go off the Small Craft Route and navigate between the mainland (right) and Tomahawk Island (left); This is another one of those unmarked 'Paths of Adventure', with no aids to navigation to mark the way. It is so cool to travel like this, with nothing but your charts and wits to keep you off the rocks! This little side trip was inspired by a portion on the Cruising Georgian Bay DVD. Speaking if which, we were watching some of that DVD on Sunday morning and that led to my remarking as to how many islands are unnamed, which in turn led to another bit of inspiration - having an island officially named :-) Anchor Girl reminded me that someone wanted to do that last summer when we were all up this way. So I fired off an email to the government people to see how one goes about such an endeavor. I think I was thought to be kidding about it, too . . . I'll let you know what I find out. Back to the adventure at hand. Another narrow passage to drive the boat through. I love it! Shallow water and unmarked rocks on both sides. Cool! Some video of this passage; Now, you gotta click on this picture to see the closeup of these rocks, with all the little holes; Turns out that our trip up to Good Harbour resulted in nothing more than a pleasant trip (there and back). We ended up not staying there - the small bay that is Good Harbour was pretty full, so we headed back down to check out a spot from last summer - McCabe Rock on Beausoleil Bay. To get there, we passed through Big Dog Channel; If you don't believe me, here is a highly entertaining video to back my story up; Alas, the anchorage at McCabe Rock was pretty full, so we moved a little farther northward to to very top of Beausoleil Bay to the portion called Chimney Bay - the part you keep coming back here to see! Right? This lovely shot was our backyard view for the next three days and nights. And yes, those three boats sitting there all innocent like are the very same three that we very nearly got to get close and personal with immediately before departing this bay; Here's two minutes and eighteen seconds of what it was like to gently sway back and forth in the light breeze of the evening. Kinda makes you all comfy and longing for the water again, don't it? Only 7 months 'till we're back there again; A morning shot of the north view looked like, facing completely opposite of the preceding photo. Yes, we sway that much when at anchor with no stern line out. Three days, solid as a rock to the bottom. Nice to have a good anchor; Look at that breakfast! All lovingly prepared on the BBQ, too! Yes, I have that much confidence in the anchor that we left Boogaboo all on it's lonesome when we took off for a two hour dinghy ride into Honey Harbour for something or other. I think it was ice cream; But first, we motored down to Wanakita to find Sanja & Arijana relaxing at the beach; Back aboard Boogaboo and playing with the chartplotter (night settings). 102.6 statute miles from home.Way cool! An evening view looking southward and down the length of beautiful Beausoleil Bay; The same view when the moon was overhead in the gathering night sky; And as this evening's night sky has fully enveloped me, I leave you until next time when we finish off this part of the Georgian Bay adventure. More pictures, more videos, more stories. Good night . . .

Dinghis, Davits & Dinner

SHARON! Glad to read all of your comments! I know, I know - that slightly suggestive one wasn't yours - it must have been added by one of the Cottagers who hasn't YET gotten one for his family ;-) (Can't wait to read the comment on that one).
So, you guys are getting a new one, too, eh? That's great! Graham had said we should all get Dinghy shirts, or leather vests or something so we can recreate the Pigs on Pedals thing on the inflatables. Hmmmm, what would be a good name for us Dinghy-ers? 

 Anyways, you gotta send some pictures of it when you get it! And we all gotta get together for a big (mini) cruise. Remember, there's the big trip to Fenelon Falls (everyone) for the July 1st long weekend. We've already planned some little inflatable cruises when we are at the nightly stops. It's gonna be F-U-N !!!!!

Not sure how you are planning to store the boat on your boat, but Anchor Girl had found some neat & inexpensive 'hoop' style davits online & ordered us a set a few weeks back. For less than $150 (including delivery, taxes & all), they seemed like a good deal. They worked so well that Graham had her order a set as well & we installed them this past weekend.

Finally, we all enjoyed our first dinner under the new gazebo. Yes, Deb & Graham joined us too, but were just finishing up the food preparation when I snapped this lovely photo;

Big Splashes

I wanted to say thanks to whomever added that last comment on my previous post, so, 'Thanks'. Don't be shy - feel free to add your name(s) to the comments!!

On that note, I thought that for sure by now we would be seeing something - anything - from the Keswick branch of the organization. . . . What gives? It's not like non of you have digital cameras these days. How about some insightful stuff from the Wick! Or is the Pefferlaw gang going to completely take this thing over?!?!? Surely (and quit calling me Shirley) you guys have been doing SOMETHING down there . . .

Another busy weekend at the cottage, with the launch of THREE new boats to the mix. Our resident boats were all put in the water a couple of weeks ago - some put in a little farther than others, but that's another story - but we added some new ones, just for fun.

First, Anchor Girl & I put the new dingy in on Friday. Eight feet and five horses of fun! OK, so I had a little mishap when I first fired the thing up, but what do you expect when they build them damned docks so close to the water? All I can say is that I'm really glad the dock was lined with carpet. On the top. . . . Here's a pic of yours truly taking it for a rip on the river;

On Saturday morning, Anchor Girl drove Kevvy Wevvy & I up to Orillia to get & deliver the new 'Docked Wages'. The first trip across the lake was great, with the weather being sunny & a little too clear :-) Just so you know, gas was One Dollar and Forty Five cents for one Canadian litre at Hot Knots. Here's the man & his ride filling up for the ride;
 Finally, Graham & Debbie launched their new little toy as well! Here's a shot of all the little helpers, helping put the thing together. What a hoot these things are!

There's gonna be lots more video from these toys, to be sure!!